ed to the House of Commons; for my part, I hold that every
one has a claim to his civil rights, were he Mahometan or Hindoo,
and I rejoice that poor old Sir Isaac, the real author of the
movement, will probably live to see it accomplished. The thought of
succeeding at last in the pursuit to which he has devoted half his
life has quite revived him.

And now Heaven bless you, my very dear friend. None of the poems on
Wellington are to be compared to that dirge on Webster. I rejoice
that my article should have pleased his family. The only bit of my
new book that I have written is a paper on Taylor and Stoddard. Say
everything for me to the Ticknors and Nortons and your own people,
the W----s.

Ever most faithfully and affectionately yours, M.R.M.

Swallowfield, February 1, 1853.

Ah, my dear friend! ask Dr. Holmes what these severe bruises and
lacerations of the nerves of the principal joints are, and he will
tell you that they are much more slow and difficult of cure, as well
as more painful, than half a dozen broken bones. It is now above six
weeks since that accident, and although the shoulder is going on
favorably, there is still a total loss of muscular power in the
lower limbs. I am just lifted out of bed and wheeled to the
fireside, and then at night wheeled back and lifted into
bed,--without the power of standing for a moment, or of putting one
foot before the other, or of turning in bed. Mr. May says that warm
weather will probably do much for me, but that till then I must be a
prisoner to my room, for that if rheumatism supervenes upon my
present inability, there will be no chance of getting rid of it. So
"patience and shuffle the cards," as a good man, much in my state,
the contented Marquess, says in Don Quixote.... I assure you I am
not out of spirits; indeed, people are so kind to me that it would
be the basest of all ingratitude if I were not cheerful as well as
thankful. I think that in a letter which you must have received by
this time, I told you how it came about, and thanked you for the
comely book which shows how cosily America lodges my brethren of the
quill. Dr. Holmes ought to have been there, and Dr. Parsons, but
their time will come and must. Nothing gratifies me more than to
find how many strangers, writing to me of my Recollections, mentio